Mayor gives warning, freezes electric scooter program
The Milwaukee rapporteur gives a stern warning about electric scooters. "I don't want this to be a city where these are littered around town," Mayor Tom Barrett said at City Hall Friday. "I'm not going to have this as a city where elderly people are threatened to walk down the sidewalk." Barrett said that scooter riders must follow the rules if they want to use them. He added that he has already personally asked riders to get off the sidewalk. "We expect the cyclists to do a better job, and I would not say that everyone is on a scooter, but we see enough that we think it is problematic and we get complaints through various channels that this is happening," she said public affairs spokesman Brian DeNeve. Barett said if things don't change, the city won't allow other scooter operators to launch. Bird and Spin have applications for the city for processing. These are currently on hold. In a statement to WISN 1[ads1]2 News, representatives from Spin claimed the announcement was a complete shock. "We are incredibly surprised and disappointed that this decision was made by the Department of Public Works. Through this process, we have worked closely with the city to address their concerns. The city informed us that our application was complete and we even met city officials Wednesday to prepare for deployment next week and have invested extensive resources to support safe operations in Milwaukee. Regardless of the city's rationale for this unexpected announcement, we think it's strange that the city has allowed the existing company to continue operating in "We hope to be able to continue this conversation with the city and look forward to developing a solution that will allow more vendors to enter the market," a Spin spokeswoman wrote. "Bird was very excited to launch our service on Monday, and we are disappointed that the city has chosen to deny residents access to our affordable, environmentally friendly alternative to sitting in traffic," said a bird spokesman for Bird. "For several weeks, we have been preparing to bring our service to Milwaukee by actively coordinating with city leaders on launch plans, conducting community outreach and planning events on security launch. Most importantly, we have hired local staff who have been happy to work with us and may no longer have an employment option now that the city refused at the last minute to allow Bird in the city. We plan to discuss this further with city officials so we can find a way forward that will allow our service to come to Milwaukee. "Lime's current pilot program is for 500 electric scooters. However, Lime officials said they were trying to bring more of the scooters to Milwaukee. "We appreciate the cooperation we have with the city and look forward to continuing our proactive efforts to educate riders, keep the community safe and ensure microbility can thrive in Milwaukee. From events to equestrian education to community safety ambassadors to regular messaging in the app, and Lime is committed to providing a safe environment for both riders and pedestrians, "a spokesman for Lime wrote. The first Lime scooters hit the streets of Milwaukee last Tuesday. DeNeve said the city and Lime have received more than 100 complaints of improper riding since "We want to have this mode of transport, but it has to be done in a very reasonable way, and unfortunately the first week here has not been the start we wanted to see. "He said the city will re-evaluate the electric scooter program over the next few weeks. Barett said riders should be more responsible and stop dangerous behavior. He wants to work with police in the department to enforce current laws. Milwaukee police have not said whether they will give citations to riders who are breaking the law.
The Milwaukee mayor warns a stern warning about electric scooters.
"I don't want this to be a city where these are scattered around the city," said Mayor Tom Barrett at City Hall on Friday. "I don't want this to be a city where elderly people are threatened to walk down the sidewalk."
Barrett said that scooter riders must follow the rules if they want to use them.
He added that he has already personally told cyclists to step off the sidewalk.
"We expect cyclists to do a better job, and I would not say that everyone is on a scooter, but we see enough that we think it is problematic and we get complaints through various channels that this is happening, "said Public Works Department spokesman Brian DeNeve.
Barrett said that if things do not change, the city will not allow other scooter operators to launch.
Bird and Spin have applications for the city for processing.
They are currently on hold.
In a statement to WISN 12 News, representatives of the Spin announcement claimed it was a complete shock.
"We are incredibly surprised and disappointed that this decision was made by the Department of Public Works. Through this process, we have worked closely with the city to address their concerns. The city informed us that our application was complete and we met even with city officials on Wednesday to prepare for deployment next week and has invested significant resources to support safe operations in Milwaukee. Regardless of the city's justification for this unexpected announcement, we think the city has allowed the existing company to continue to operate in an exclusive scheme. We hope to continue this conversation with the city and look forward to developing a solution that will allow more suppliers to enter the market, "wrote a Spin spokesman.
"Bird was very excited to launch our service on Monday, and we are disappointed that the city has chosen to deny residents access to our affordable, environmentally friendly alternative to sitting in traffic," said a bird spokesman. "For several weeks, we have been preparing to bring our service to Milwaukee by actively coordinating with city leaders on launch plans, conducting community outreach and planning events on security launch. Most importantly, we have hired local staff who have been happy to work with us and may no longer have an employment option now that the city at the last moment refused to allow Bird in the city. We plan to discuss this further with city officials so that we can find a way forward that will allow our service to come to Milwaukee. "
Lime's current pilot program is for 500 electric scooters.
However, representatives from Lime said they were trying to bring more of the scooters to Milwaukee.
“We appreciate the partnership we have with the city and look forward to continuing our proactive efforts to educate riders, keep the community safe and ensure micro mobility can thrive in Milwaukee. From events to rider education to community safety ambassadors to regular messages in the app, and Lime is committed to providing a safe environment for both riders and pedestrians, ”a spokesman for Lime wrote.
The first Lime scooters hit the streets of Milwaukee last Tuesday.
DeNeve said the city and Lime have received more than 100 complaints of improper riding ever since.
"We will do this work," Barrett said. "We want to have this mode of transport, but it has to be done in a very reasonable way, and unfortunately the first week here has not been the start we wanted to see."
He said the city will re-evaluate the electric scooter program over the next few weeks.
Barrett said riders should be more responsible and stop dangerous behavior.
He wants to work with the police department to enforce current laws.
Milwaukee police have not said whether they will give citations to riders who are breaking the law.